Refrigerating apparatus.



No. 890,809. PATENTED JUNE 16,1908.

A. R. SPRAGUE.

REFRIGBRATING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 29, 1905. I

ALMERIN RATIO SPRAGUE, OF SACRAMENTO,

CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGN- MENTS,'TO L. A. BOY, OF CHICAGO,ILLINOIS.

REFRIGERATING APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 16, 1908.

Application'filedlune 29, 1905. Serial No. 267,664.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALMERIN RATIO SPRAGUE, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Sacramento, in the county of Sacra mento and Stateof California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inRefrigerating Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to the refrigeration of perishable substances incooling rooms, such as storage chambers, refrigerator cars and the like.I

It relates more particularly. to apparatus for carrying out a method orprocess described in an application filed by me u on the same date asthe present case. In t at application my system was shown in itsadaption to a refrigerator car, as an excel- -lent illustration of itspractical use. In the present application I show a like illustration ofits use, it bein understood however that substantiallysi ar apparatusoperatedu on the same principle can be applled to ot er cold storagechambers, As a matter of fact the refrigerator car illustrated is astationary cold storage chan1ber during the operation of my system,since at that time it is at rest. is,

An apparatus embodying my invention is shown in the accompanyingdrawings, in

I which Figure 1, is a side elevation of a refrigerator car'broken awayat oneendto show con nections to and from an ice tank; Fig. 2, is a planview.

The illustrative apparatus shown in the drawing and embodying myinvention is a refrigerator car of a well known type, having an ice tank1 at each end. Only one of these tanks is shown in the drawing as theconstructions of both are alike and Well understoodin the art. The icetanks areclosed at the to by proper plugs and by hin ed lids, there einggenera y two ice holes or each tank as indicated in'Fig. 2. At thebottom of each icetank is a floor composed of bars 2 which form a ratingupon which the ice rests, and whic permits the melted ice to pass intothe bottom of the car and then escape by a suitable outlet in the floor.Lengths of hose 3 are ada ted to be cou led to these outlets, so that te-melted ice s all be conveyed to a positive destination and usefullyemployed as hereinafter described.

So far I have described an ordinary and well known type of car.

At a station where a car is loaded with fruit or other perishablesubstances, is located a blower main 4 generally of about the length ofa car and of suitable capacity. Into one end of this main is connectedthe discharge nozzle of a blower 5 driven by any suitable power. Theintake of the blower is connected to a vertical ipe 6, to the upper endof which is couples a flexible hose 7. This hose is adapted to enter theice tank of the car through one of the ice holes, the blower main andpipe 6 being located preferably adjacent to the loadin siding, and thecar being brought up on t e siding to the roper plosition forreceiving'the air hose.

or ma 'ng the actual connection with the interior of the tank variousmeans can be employed in order to obtain a substantially air tightentrance. I prefer to remove the usual ice plugfrom the ice hole andsubstitute a similar ice plug 8 having-a tube 9 extendingsdownwardly.through it. The hose 7 is thenconnected to the tube 9. At 'the' otherend of the blower main is a couplingll connected with a pipe 12, similarto the pipe 6, andalso connected in the same manner as that pipe byflexible hose, with the ice tank at the other end of the car. Thus theblower both draws air from, and forces air into and through the interiorof the car. Within the blower main and extending for substantially itsentire length, is a coil 13, which, at one end, receives cold water fromthe melting of ice in both ice tanks. Thus the discharge hose 3 from thetank at one end is connected to a pipe 14 which extends along outsidethe main, and at the other end, enters such main and is connected to thecoil at 15. The hose 3 from the other ice tank is connected through thewall of the mainand into the coil at 16.

The final end of the coilextends through the Wall of the main as shownat 17, to permit the water to escape.

The car havin been loaded,ice placed in the tanks, and t e various partsconnected up as described, the o eration will'be as follows: On startingthe lower, a stron draft is forced through the main and into t e car,while the intake of the blower receives air from the car. All the airforced into the car is compelled to ass throu h the ice tank at thatend, is coo ed, and t en displaces the warm air in the car andpenetratesthroughoutthe interior and the load contained therein. The warm airdisplaced is drawn out of the other end of the car, passin through theice tanks where, first, it is 000 ed, and secondly, the moisture withwhich it is charged is condensed so that it commences in a short time toenter the blower intake as cold dry air, and in that condition tocirculate through the blower main and the car. After the rocess ofcirculatin cold air by this forced raft has continued %or a suflicienttime, the air circulating in the car and its entire contents have beencooled down to a proper initial degree of refrigeration-say 40; and

the car will be filled with dry cold air,pre-.

melted ice from both tanks for keeping the air in the blower main cool;so that there is practically no rise in the temperature of the air Whileit is passing, externally to the car, through the said main. All themelted ice as it escapes from both ice tanks is carried into the coil 13and is used to keep the air in such main at about the temperature atwhich it leaves-the car.

When the air'in the car has received its thorough initial coolingaccording to my system, 'the waste pipes 3 are disconnected from thewaste openings in the ice tanks, the flexible connectlons and-the.temporary ice plugs are removed from the ice holes, the permanent icelugs are placed in position, and the ice hole ids are c osed down. Thecar can now proceed to its destination under ordinary conditions ofpermanent refrigeration.

an for withdrawing it through the ice, with.

the same effect as to producing a ra id refrigeration and drying of theair, w 'ch is thus rendered of such a character and quality that thepermanent refrigeratingmeans can be used to the best advantage.

. I do not limit myself to the exact constructions and arrangementsherein described and shown in the accom anying drawings, as I desire toavail myse of such modifications and equivalents as fall properly withinthe spirit. of my'invention.

Havin thus fully described my invention, what I c aim as new and desireto secure by Letters Patent, is:

A device for circulating the air in cold storage chambers comprising ahorizontal blowermain, a flexible pi e having connection with one endthereof? a blower having its discharge nozzle connected to the otherend, a flexible pipe connected to the intake of the blower, a coil insaid main, a pipe 14 carried on the said main and having one end tendingsubstantially the full length of the main, a flexible pi e havingconnection with the other end of sald pipe 14 and a pipe 3 alsoconnected to the coil near the blower.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature, in presence of two witnesses,this twenty first day of June 1905.

ALMERIN RATIO SPRAGUE.

Witnesses:

LONNIE GAUMi F. J. FITCH connected to the coil near the blower and eX-

